Sleep
by Society's Failure
Summary: There were times she just... Couldn't sleep. And this time, she reached out during one such time, and is surprised by the response. NaruSaku-ish fluff that makes no sense


"_Naruto? You still up?"_

The roseate stared at the words she had typed into her phone, thumb held hesitantly over the _Send_ button. Of course he wasn't.

What kind of normal person was still up at two in the morning?

But still she sent it, sliding her phone shut right after and setting it back on her nightstand with a resigned sigh. Another night of staring at the ceiling until either a, the sun rose and it was time to actually get up, or b, she got bored enough to start playing a video game.

Normally she resorted to option b. Hence the obnoxious amount of hours played on all of her games. Sitting up, she pulled her knees to her chest and propped her chin on them. Another night alone...

"_Whooooooaaaa~! We're halfway theeeee-eeeeere~!"_

Sakura's jade eyes shot over to her cell phone, now lit up and blaring her ringtone for _him. _

"_Whooaaaa-ooooh! Liiiiivin' on a praaaayer~!"_

Leaning over to grab it, she flipped open the screen. _"1 New Message from Sunshine. Read or Dismiss?"_

Clicking 'read', she scowled at the notification. What the hell was he doing up, anyway? As much as she was internally happy he had replied, he needed his sleep and replying to her was not sleeping.

"_Actually, I'm sideways. Thanks for asking ;D"_

She huffed. Why did he have to be such a dumbass? If she were there, he'd be hit so hard upside the head he wouldn't know what to do with himself...

"_Shut up. What are you still doing up?"_

Send. Well, actually, if she were there, she'd probably be asleep. That was the problem after all.

She couldn't sleep alone.

Well, she could. Usually she could get by with hugging a pillow close, or clinging to some sort of plushie like that. But there were often weeks where she wouldn't be able to get over the isolation, and resorted to once more her a or b choice.

Her phone lit up, but she snapped it open before it could blare at her some more.

"_Technically, I didn't say anything ;D but absolutely nothing. What aboutchu? Why you still up?"_

He had to be a smartass about it, didn't he? Despite herself, she smiled a bit. That was Naruto for her.

"_Can't sleep."_

Send. Sakura didn't know why she was telling him this, anyway. There wasn't anything he could do at two in the morning to help her. Well. Two eleven, now. But that was just being technical about it. A minute passed. It felt like an hour since he had last replied. Three minutes. Chances were, he'd probably dozed off. That's what reasonable people did at a time like this. Ten minutes. Setting the phone back onto the nightstand, once more she pulled her knees up to her chest, a dejected feeling settling in her stomach.

"_One hundred... Ninety-nine... Ninety-eight..." _

Alone, again. Which meant starting over the ritual of things to see what worked best first.

"_Fifty-five... fifety-four...Fif-"_

"_Whooooooaaaa~! We're halfway theeeee-eeeeere~!"_

Jolted out of distraction, she swiped her phone and opened it simultaneously. Huh... _"1 New Message from Sunshine. Read or Dismiss?" _

Maybe she was wrong. Maybe he hadn't fallen asleep. Or maybe he had and now, seventeen minutes later, he had finally decided to wake up and reply. Whatever. It didn't matter. She clicked the Dismiss harshly, as though that would make up for her perceived abandonment that she knew wasn't really abandonment. He needed to sleep anyway. She shouldn't be keeping him up.

But that didn't mean she had to like it. Sighing softly, she felt that dejection from earlier begin to gnaw at her stomach. Maybe she should at least look to see what he said...

Just as her hand reached out for cell, the sound of a key in the lock stopped her in her tracks. Eyes wide open, she unconsciously held her breath as her front door opened of its seemingly own accord. Footsteps entered, and the door closed behind them. The same key that had been used clicked against the dining room table as whoever was out there set it down.

She was frozen. She knew she should do something, or move, but she couldn't. The footsteps grew closer and closer to her room's door... Only a moment more, and the door would creak open... Yes, there it was. It moved slowly, dragging time out for what seemed like an eternity.

"Sakura-chan?"

Instantly the breath she was holding burst forward, and the roseate felt her anger surge as the form of a particular blonde moved forth from the shadow of her main apartment area.

"Naruto! What the hell! What. The hell. What are you doing?" she half-yelled at him, throwing her pillow in his direction. "You scared the shit out of me!"

He caught the pillow, and frowned before tossing it back. "I texted you saying you needed to come let me in or I'd use the spare. Didn't you get it?" A glimmer of amusement crossed his face at her silence, which was evidence enough of the answer, though she couldn't see it well in the darkness.

"Turn on a light, would you?" she asked him with a scowl, not at all pleased with what had just happened.

"Nope."

Her scowl deepened. "Naruto, come on. Just turn it on."

He removed a jacket and his shoes, and even in the darkness she could tell he was wearing his orange pants and black shirt that marked what he considered pyjamas. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. What was he even doing, anyway? What was he doing here? She started to voice those questions, but was quickly interrupted again as he moved towards her bed.

"Scoot," he told her, nudging her side to force the movement as he swept the covers back enough for himself to fit under them, ignoring the fact she was still on top.

"What are you _doing?_" she squeaked, thoroughly confused. First, he was up at two. Second, he didn't reply. Third, he was here and now in her bed demanding things of her? Yeah what?

"Going to sleep. Now, you can either sit up and play more video games, or you can come here and sleep," he told her simply, making himself comfortable. It wasn't the first time he'd slept in her bed, no, but it was the matter of he had just appeared and BAAM that was it that got her. But still...

Shaking her head at him, she sat on the edge of the bed before pulling her feet under the covers. Looking over at his form, which was now on its side and facing the other way, she sighed softly to herself before positioning herself in much the same manner. Even considering the foot or so between them, she could feel the heat radiate from his body. It was comforting...

She heard him before she felt him. The bed creaked under his shifting weight, and in response she lifted her head to look over at him before realizing he was facing her now. An arm snaked over her side, and she gasped softly as she was dragged into direct contact, her back to his front. Tensing up, and readying herself to punch him in the face or something of the sort, she was about to say some sort of threat when she realized...

That this was exactly the kind of thing she had hoped, although very subconsciously, would happen.

"Sakura... Go to sleep now," the soft voice of her best friend told her from directly behind, the hot breath warming her neck slightly. The voice already seemed to lull her into being more tired than she thought she had been. The arm that had dragged her to him remained draped over her side, a secure barrier from her and the rest of the world. After a moment of hesitation, she anchored it down with her own grip.

"Naruto..." she whispered softly, still feeling almost confused.

"Hmmm?" he hummed in question. She could feel it through his chest.

"How'd you know?" she continued. She hadn't told him about that. Nobody knew she couldn't sleep by herself, usually. So either he had just randomly pulled this, or he somehow knew. Which was odd, in either or.

"Oh. New Years. You say things when you're drunk," he mumbled into her hair, causing her to scoff. A soft pinch warned her into silence, though, and as she checked the time to see two twenty-eight, maybe it would be better just to save it for the morning, anyway. Or later in the morning.

But she still had one more question, as a yawn struck her.

"Were you really awake?" she whispered, closing her eyes in acceptance of what had happened.

She could feel the smile in his voice.

"Nope."


End file.
